


Tenacious

by lightning027



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Major Original Character(s), Multi, Original Character Death(s), Original Character-centric, definite original character and original character relationships, it takes a while to build up, please love my ocs, possible original character and canon character relationships
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-30
Updated: 2015-11-30
Packaged: 2018-05-04 02:59:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,890
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5317910
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lightning027/pseuds/lightning027
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Viktoria Hickmon is a member of the 105th Trainee Corps. She's fairly stoic and has just a bit of a temper, but that doesn't make up for the fact that she can barely stay upright in her 3DMG. She, and the rest of the 105th, are about to encounter something that is much worse than the Hell Run or 3DMG training. Will their title of brightest Trainee Corps stand the test of the titans?</p><p>(OC-centric story that will eventually cross paths with canon)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Welcome to the 105th

The drill sergeant, Rod Graff, frowned at the new recruits. The 105th trainee corps, the cadets that in three years would be serving in one of the three branches of the military. Graff was grumpy, not because he was usually an irritable person, but because he was unprepared for the cadets. Usually the next group of trainees would be inducted six months to a year after the previous group, depending on how many people signed up. But the 105th had been inducted only four months after the 104th. Graff was understaffed, and he knew for a fact that Marshall, who would be the classroom instructor, hadn’t come up with a full lesson plan yet. So when he stepped in front of the new recruits, they were rightfully scared as they saluted him.  
“At ease!” he roared, and the kids fell into the standard resting position, feet apart and hands behind their back. Most of the kids looked scared out of their pants. Graff approached one near the front that looked like he might collapse at any time. He was small, scrawny, with brown curly hair and shaky knees.  
“Who the hell are you?” Graff asked. The kid yelped, standing up straighter.  
“M-Masen De-emar-ree,” the kid stuttered. He wasn’t going to last long.  
“And where’s you fucking salute, Masen Demaree!?” Graff roared. Masen squealed and stood at attention, closing his eyes in fear. Graff shook his head and moved on. The kid standing next to Masen was scrawny as well, but a bit taller, with dusty brown hair and unfocused eyes. Graff questioned him, and found his name was Jackin Brendle, and he wasn’t particularly promising.  
Graff moved on, questioning other kids. They were all fairly normal, scared, but able to adjust to the way he treated them. A few of them he knew would be different. There were the twins, Lukus and Jared Nale, who were built perfectly for the use of the maneuver gear. They were a bit on the small side, but not by a terrible amount, and they had the sort of lean-muscled figure that was best suited for speed, while still retaining the strength needed to fight titans. They were both fairly well adjusted to authority as well, following orders to the T and showing only a respectful amount of fear. They would go far.  
Then there was the girl. Magarth Herzberg. Strange name, but powerful girl. She was small, barely taller than five feet, Graff suspected, but built for strength, with well-defined arms and stout legs. She was also naturally charming, as she answered his questions with a bit of zest that almost made him break his gruff act.   
Of course there were the kids that would be lucky to make it through the first week of training, as well as the prodigies. Besides the Masen and Jackin kids, there was Mihael Shor, who was small and frail, as well as stuttery and obviously an attention whore. The kid made fun of himself while answering questions in order to make the other recruits laugh at his expense, but all it earned him was a bunch of horrified stares and a kick to the gut from Graff.   
There were soldiers who stand out in other ways as well. There was Edric Holquin, a son of the most powerful man in Trost – Earl Holquin, who had moved from the inner sanctum of wall Sina to do business. Graff was interested to find out exactly why the kid felt the need to join the military.  
And of course there were the ones that were likely to cause him trouble. Strangely, they were all blonde. There was Miles River, whose curly dirty-blonde hair looked like it hadn’t been combed in days. He stared at Graff in a way that screamed “alpha male” and that was never good in a subordinate. The other was a girl, Viktoria Hickmon. She was more of a golden-blonde, and her hair was so long it reached the center of her back. When Graff stepped close to her to ask why she had joined the corps, her nervous but determined exterior faded and she positively glared at him, a look of such pure anger that had she been his superior Graff would have turned tail and ran. But she was his subordinate, and anger towards superiors would only lead to trouble. Graff ordered the kids to the mess hall. He had to coordinate with some of the other instructors to figure out what exactly to do with all these recruits.  
XXXXX  
“Why the hell are they running?” Viktoria asked, sipping a mug of water. Two girls were making their way around the compound, the shorter one ahead of the other, who seemed to be getting frustrated that she wasn’t fast enough.  
“Dunno,” Miles shrugged, slouching down next to her on the railing outside the mess hall.  
“Mag said that she runs every day. That’s probably what she’s doing. I don’t know why the other girl’s running, though,” a girl replied. She had extremely curly brown hair that was wound up into as tight a bun as she could manage.  
“Mag?” Viktoria asked.  
“The short one,” the girl replied. “I’m Gianna, by the way.” Viktoria nodded and introduced herself, as did Miles.  
“So do you two know each other?” Gianna asked, gesturing between the two. Viktoria and Miles exchanged glances, and Viktoria raised an eyebrow.  
“No. We are from the same village, though. Houst.” Viktoria said. “It’s a pretty big place, though.” Miles nodded.   
“I’m from Trost,” Gianna replied. The three stood there in relative silence, Miles and Viktoria leaning on the railing, Viktoria sipping her drink, and Gianna leaning against the wall, playing with the straps on her thighs.   
“Is the food ready yet!?” a girl jogged up to the mess hall and hopped onto the porch, her long light brown hair flowing behind her. She looked like she needed some food – she was very skinny, but she still had some athleticism to her build.   
“Nope,” Viktoria and Miles said at the same time. They were becoming fast friends.  
“Oh. Well, that sucks. I’m Jeni!” she stuck out her hand for Gianna to shake. Surprised, Gianna grasped her hand, and Jeni shook violently, causing Gianna to laugh loudly. Miles and Viktoria turned to look at her, and Miles’s breath caught. He hadn’t really gotten a good look at Jeni yet, but now that he had… she was beautiful, especially when she laughed like that. Miles blushed and turned away.  
“Gianna,” she replied, using her left hand to stop the ferocious assault on her right.   
“Viktoria. And this one’s Miles,” Viktoria said, jabbing her thumb in the direction of the messy-haired boy.   
“Yo!” Jackin poked his head out of the doorway of the mess hall. “Soup’s on!”  
The 105th filed into the hall, taking their seats at whatever tables suited them. The twins sat with the Holquin kid and Mag, as well as two other girls and one more well-built boy. It seemed that was the table the prodigies would occupy. Masen and Jackin took seats next to the tallest kid anyone in the 105th had ever seen – Zachariah Smist. Joining them was the other frail boy, Mihael Shor, and some boy with a crew cut and a solid build. Gianna sat with a few other girls, including Jeni, the girl who had been running with Mag, and a few others.   
Viktoria and Miles sat across from each other at the last table. No one else sat with them, not that they minded. Neither of them were very social.  
“So, why did you join?” Viktoria asked, attempting conversation in between bites of potato.  
“My family needs money and my brother refused to join,” Miles replied.  
“So you’re gonna try to get into the Military Police and wire them cash?” Viktoria asked.  
“Yeah. You?” Miles wasn’t one for useless words.  
“My family’s been in the military for years. My father, and his father, and his father’s father were all in the Garrison. And since my mom never had a son, I decided to go instead,” Viktoria stated.   
“You have sisters?” Miles asked.  
“Yeah, three younger ones. How about you?”   
“Just the brother and a younger sister.”  
“Bet your house is a lot quieter than mine. It’s always ‘mom, braid my hair!’ and ‘Daddy, kill the spider!’ and ‘Tori buy me the doll!’” Viktoria shook her head. Before they could continue in their conversation, a tray slammed down next to them, followed by a girl in glasses and a tightly-wound bun, a frown present on her face. Miles went back to eating, like nobody had interrupted their conversation.  
“Sorry. Can I sit here? Everyone over there is… irritating,” the girl asked. Viktoria shrugged, slightly annoyed by the girl, but she guessed it couldn’t be helped.  
“Sure. I’m Viktoria and this is Miles.” Miles flicked his hand in greeting.  
“I’m Lila Mill, from Lustig,” she said, sipping from her cup. Her plate had barely anything on it, just a few vegetables and a bowl of canned fruit.  
“Did they run out of food or something?” Viktoria asked, gesturing to Lila’s plate.  
“Eh? Oh, no. I’m just trying to stay healthy. That beef had way too much fat on it,” Lila replied, spearing a green bean on her fork.  
“Oh, OK then,” Viktoria shared a glance with Miles and he shrugged, rolling his eyes. Who cared about that stuff?  
“So, what are you here for?” Viktoria asked. Lila swallowed what she had been chewing before she answered.  
“It’s what you’re supposed to do, right? Join the military, hopefully get into the Military Police, have a better life. I’m hoping for the Police, but the Garrison is just as good. Better than the Survey Corps, right?” Lila laughed lightly. Miles smiled and Viktoria laughed as well, but hers was softer and trailed off at the end.  
“So, what about you?” Miles and Viktoria relayed their stories.  
“Why didn’t he join, anyway? If you don’t mind me asking,” Lila said in response to Miles’s tale. Miles shrugged.   
“He was chosen as an apprentice of the wall worshipers,” Miles said. Lila nodded.   
“Well, I hope you get into the Military Police too, to help your family,” Lila said. Miles thanked her. “You too, Viktoria,” Viktoria mumbled noncommittally. The rest of the dinner went on without anything else special happening. Then the girls and boys separated to go to their dorms and claim beds, take showers, and get some rest.


	2. The Terrible Anticipation of Failure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The squad gears up for their first 3DMG trial.

The girls learned each other’s names. There were two, Marina and Monica, who were both from Dauper. Marina and Monica resembled each other closely, as they were cousins. They had the same shade of straight brown hair and the same basic body structure, though Marina was shorter, and she had a streak of blonde in her hair. Marina also had green eyes, in contrast to Monica’s brown ones. Regardless of their differences in appearance, many of the recruits continued to get their names mixed up.  
Of course there was Mag, who was loud and happy and who came up with sharing names in the first place. She was a natural born leader.  
Hanna, the girl who had been running with her earlier, seemed to look up to her. Hanna was about the same build as Viktoria – decidedly athletic, but not as well-built as Mag. Hanna had very dark brown hair, and wore an expression that made her seem pissed off all the time.  
Jeni was excited to share her name, and the fact that she wanted to join the Survey Corps. All of the other girls were shocked at the confession, and a few, like Gianna, tried to talk her out of it. But Jeni was sure it was the “right thing to do”.   
Another girl in the cabin was Janie Copper, a tall, slender girl with glasses and cropped hair. She was very proper, never speaking informally, although she did laugh with the other girls and got very flustered when Mag made a vulgar joke, telling her that it was horrible and unladylike. She was friends with Eda, a dark-haired girl who was well-built and strong, as well as tall. Eda didn’t talk much other than to laugh, and to tell the rest of the group that her friend Catrina had dropped out before the end of the day, and that she was sad to see her go.  
Then there was Natalie, a very tall girl with firey red hair so long that it reached her waist, even when braided tightly. She was a reserved, but well-spoken girl. She stood next to Adrian, a short, outspoken kid with a wit as bright as Natalie’s hair. Adrian dished out jokes as quickly as she could, and fired comebacks out just as fast. She was short and petite, but her spirit and good-naturedness would make up for it in the military world.  
Lila and Viktoria didn’t say much. They both seemed to be scoping out the other girls, sizing them up and wondering if they could handle them for the next three years. By the end of the group’s conversation, however, Viktoria had realized she liked these girls, and was joking right along with Adrian, much to the surprise of those who had seen her beforehand. Viktoria loved to joke, actually, but no one knew her well enough to share this fact. Lila revealed that she too could crack a joke, although she still seemed like she wasn’t fully opening up to the rest of the girls.   
The girls washed up and fell asleep, not wanting to stay up too late and risk being groggy the first day of training.   
The boys must have had a different idea, since that morning in the mess hall, they looked like they were brain dead. Zachariah almost passed out while they walked to the training grounds, where three rigs were set up.  
“These are to test your ability to handle the 3D Maneuver Gear. If you are not able to steady yourself on this rig by the end of the day tomorrow, you will be sent home. I would say good luck but there’s no fucking luck to it. You either make it or you don’t,” Graff declared in a monotone voice. He rolled his eyes and stepped back, allowing the cadets to walk up to the rigs and check them out.   
Viktoria wished she had a glass of water right now, because her throat was dry and her palms were sweaty. She had no clue whether or not she would be able to handle the rigs. Like Graff said – you either have it or you don’t. She twirled a strand of her hair as she watched the first group strap themselves in. It consisted of the Nale brothers and the Holquin boy. As other trainees raised them up, their feet left the ground, and hung in the air. The three stayed steady effortlessly. Lukus was so surprised he wasn’t wobbling that he moved his hips experimentally, then his torso. He twisted a bit, but still managed to keep his balance with little or no movement of the rest of his body. Jared ignored his brother, crossing his arms as he stayed perfectly upright, his legs dangling lazily beneath him. Edric Holquin followed Lukus’s example and moved around a bit, and although he did lose his balance for a half a second, he was able to stay upright easily.   
Next were Monica, Marina, and Mag. Monica wobbled constantly in her harness, always having to adjust her position to keep from tipping over. Marina was a natural, spreading her arms out for balance as she was raised, but pulling them in to her chest once she felt comfortable. Mag whooped as she was raised.  
“Bring it on! I’m gonna kill this thing!” Mag yelled, a grin on her face as Mihael raised her. Her balance was perfect, and she was confident enough to start swinging back and forth on the harness, laughing as she did so. The other two girls giggled when they saw her, Monica laughing so hard she almost fell on her head.  
“That’s enough, Herzberg!” Graff boomed, and the girls were lowered. The next group was Jackin, Masen, and Lila. Lila had a blank expression on her face, but her cheeks were red and her hands were balled into fists. She extended her arms so that her open palms were balancing her at her waist. She was steady, even though she was nervous, and her stance never wavered.   
Masen, however, wasn’t as lucky. He immediately fell over and cracked his head open on the ground once his feet left the dirt.  
“OW!” Masen yelled, wriggling in the harness and clutching his head in pain. Jackin rolled his eyes before wobbling horribly, only barely able to steady himself. He kept wobbling as Graff cussed Masen out and Janie led him to the nurse.   
Viktoria was in the next group, along with Miles and Hanna. Viktoria wiped her hands on her pants as she was clipped in. She exchanged a glance with Miles, who seemed fairly calm, but once their eyes met she knew he was nervous too. Viktoria knew everybody else could tell she was nervous, her face was probably beet red and they would definitely notice her wiping her sweaty palms on her pants. She didn’t have much time to think of it as it took all her balance and concentration to stay upright. Her arms shot out as her body fell backwards.   
“Gah!” Viktoria flapped furiously to upright herself, which she eventually did after some horrible arm movements combined with the terrible anticipation of failure. She continued to wobble no matter how much she used her arms to steady herself.  
“Use your fucking legs, Hickmon!” Graff yelled. Viktoria’s eyes widened and she turned her gaze to her feet, which were both bent at the knee and slightly curled up under herself. She unfurled her legs, keeping her arms out for balance, and her stance became steadier. She lowered her hands and hung on the rig, smirking to herself.  
For a full three seconds before she fell over backwards and cracked her head on the dirt.  
“Fuck!” she yelled. Miles snickered from next to her. He was wobbling in his harness as well, but it couldn’t have looked as bad as Viktoria’s attempt. Hanna was wobbling more violently than Miles, because she was trying to keep her balance without using her hands, and she was failing miserably.   
Jackin unclipped her from the rig.   
“Need to go to the nurse?” he asked. Viktoria took his outstretched hand and lifted herself up, dusting off her white pants.   
“No, no, I’m good. Just a little fall,” she said. Her head did hurt, but not too much. She needed to try the rig again. She wasn’t getting sent home. Not on the second day.   
The rest of the kids tried the rig, most of them wobbly but able to stay upright. Viktoria, Masen, and Mihael were the only ones who hadn’t been able to balance on the rig.  
“Alright maggots, you get one last try today!” Graff said to the three failures. Viktoria and the others stepped forward to be strapped in for the last time.  
Don’t forget to use your legs, don’t get distracted, arms out… Viktoria told herself. Her feet left the ground. She bent them at the knees slightly. If she kept her legs straight, she would be too stiff, but if she relaxed too much, she would be caught off guard if she wobbled. She stretched her arms out and moved as she was raised, adjusting so that the wobbling was at a minimum. She started to tip backwards, but leaned forwards to counteract it. After some finagling, she was fairly steady, still tilting, yes, but not wobbling violently. It seemed like Mihael and Masen had improved too. Masen was flailing like a madman, but at least he was still upright. And Mihael seemed to be as well-adjusted as Viktoria.  
“Tch,” Graff scoffed. “Guess you’re not completely incompetent. You pass. Now go get some lunch.” The trainees left for lunch, feeling pleased with themselves, except for Masen, who was hitting himself in the head repeatedly.   
“Ugh,” Viktoria groaned as she sat down, her tray clanking on the table. Miles glanced at her from his seat across from her. “That fucking sucked.”  
“Yeah, you embarrassed yourself pretty bad out there,” he snickered. Viktoria frowned and took the roll off his plate.  
“Oi!” he grabbed at the roll, but Viktoria stuffed it in her face and smiled at him, taking a huge bite.  
“Too late!” she said as he glared at her.   
“Hey, Tori!” Miles and Viktoria turned in the direction of the voice, to see Jeni skipping towards them with a huge plate of food. She plopped down next to Viktoria and began eating.  
“Tori…?” Viktoria mumbled, mostly to herself.  
“Oh, do you not like it? I thought it sounded cute, but if it’s not your thing…”  
“No. My little sisters call me Tori,” she replied.  
“Cool! Well, I just wanted to congratulate you on the 3DMG trials! You really worked hard and improved,” Jeni said. Viktoria raised an eyebrow and snorted.  
“Yeah, sure, that’s a nice way to put it,” she said. Jeni pouted.  
“No, seriously. Those kids,” Jeni jabbed her thumb in the general direction of the prodigies table, who were laughing about something or other (except for Jared, who looked bored as fuck). “They don’t need to work at anything, and yet they get praised left and right. We really should be rooting for the kids who improve daily, who have to work at stuff.”  
“That’s a nice thought, but not really all that smart,” Miles said.   
“Oh really?” Jeni asked, crossing her arms. “How so?” Miles’s face flushed and he cleared his throat.  
“Uh, well, the prodigies are the ones that’ll go farther. They improve too – training to be in the military is tough, and improves everyone’s abilities. So those that are naturally strong get even stronger, so they’re the most likely to survive and fight.”  
“But isn’t that why they all have such big egos? Because people just keep saying that they’re the best, then they develop a superiority complex and can’t work well with others, which makes them inherently more likely to die!” Jeni retaliated, frowning at Miles. Miles glared right back.  
“That’s not always true! Levi, Humanity’s strongest soldier, works well with others! People love him!”  
“Levi’s only ever led soldiers, so do we even know if he would be able to work well in a team, with people who aren’t as good of soldiers as he is? And maybe he’s the exception to the rule, not the rule itself!”   
“OK, OK, calm the fuck down, Jesus,” Viktoria stuck a hand in between the two, who were still staring each other down. “Jeni comes over here to compliment me and it turns into a fucking political debate. You did well too, by the way,” Viktoria said. Jeni had done well. All she had to do was go limp and the rig supported her perfectly.  
“Oh, thanks!” Jeni smiled at her.  
“Is nobody going to compliment me!?” Miles whined, perhaps a bit loudly.  
“Nice ass!” Zachariah yelled from two tables over. The girls laughed and Miles smacked himself in the forehead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to put out two chapters today, just because I have so many written. I'll try to put out one a week, but hey, no promises! Critique is always welcome!

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! I hope you're enjoying this story so far. I love writing about OCs, and I hope you love reading about them! Critique is welcome, but I do recommend reading the second chapter before you say anything - I'm notoriously bad at first chapters!


End file.
